


The Duke of Mountain Christmas

by PrincessMariana



Series: PM's Flufftober 2020 [10]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU
Genre: Batfamily (DCU), Bruce Wayne Loves Children, Cute, Fluff, Flufftober, Flufftober 2020, Gen, Jason loves books, pure fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:02:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27060880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrincessMariana/pseuds/PrincessMariana
Summary: Dick and Jason live in a strange world with their siblings and Alfred, where no one grows up, and everyone is happy. Bruce, the shadow entity that brought them there, watches over his children from a far. Dick is determined to change that. He drags Jason into the forest, where Jason and Bruce talk about books.Written for Flufftober, Day 11: Radiance
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne
Series: PM's Flufftober 2020 [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1951447
Comments: 7
Kudos: 140
Collections: Flufftober2020





	The Duke of Mountain Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> I decided to make this into a series, which means I'll probably write more fics in this 'verse. :)  
> If you're new - You don't need to read the previous fic to read this one.

After Dick’s fall in the forest, both Jason and Bruce kept a close eye on him. Dick was happy to soak up all the attention.

Bruce watched from a distance but would sometimes cocoon around Dick at night. He hated seeing Dick bleed, even if Dick’s injuries had healed quickly. Bruce’s children were such fragile creatures, and Bruce had brought them to his home to keep them safe. Bruce struggled to shake from his mind the image of Dick’s unconscious body in the ravine.

Jason, always with a scowl and a book, was never too far from his brother. He was especially snappish whenever Dick would get too close to the forest.

“You’re not going in there,” Jason said. “I swear I’ll get Alfred.”

Dick made a face. “Just the edge! I won’t go too far in.”

“No! You got hurt last time,” Jason said. “It was really bad.”

“Come with me then,” Dick said, offering his hand. “I want to show you something.”

Jason glanced back at the manor and then at Dick, clearly torn. He clutched his book tighter to his chest. “It’s not safe.”

Bruce was pleased that at least one of his children practiced self-preservation. Jason had never swung from chandeliers or climbed the top of bookcases or otherwise given Bruce reason to panic. Jason was perfectly content to read a book or help Alfred in the kitchen.

“We don’t have to go far,” Dick coaxed. “And it’s daylight this time.”

“Fine,” Jason grumbled and took Dick’s hand.

Skipping cheerfully, Dick pulled Jason into the forest. True to his word, they went only a few yards in.

“So what’re you going to show me?” Jason asked, giving into curiosity.

“Not what. _Who_ ,” Dick said. “Hey, Bruce! You around here somewhere?”

Bruce hesitated. Despite his promise to Dick to interact with the children more, Bruce didn’t want to scare Jason. Jason still occasionally would wake up from nightmares about his mother’s death and living alone on the streets. Witnessing a shadow creature – a literal nightmare to some – might add to Jason’s stress and bring up painful memories.

But Bruce also struggled with refusing Dick – and the rest of the children – anything. He took shape on a nearby rock, molding himself to the vague outline of an adult man. “Hello, chum.”

Dick beamed. “Bruce! I wasn’t sure you could come out in the daytime. Jason, this is Bruce! He’s the one that brought us here.”

Jason stared with narrowed eyes at Bruce. “What _are_ you?”

“Don’t be rude, Jay,” Dick said.

“It’s fine,” Bruce said. He did his best impression of a human smile and hoped it didn’t come off scary. Darkness didn’t usually have facial expressions, after all. “I am a shadow entity. I was created in another dimension than Earth.”

That was the best way Bruce could describe himself to a human.

“…right,” Jason said. After another long moment of scrutiny, he shrugged. “I guess you’re okay, if Dick likes you.”

They fell into an uncomfortable silence. Bruce wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say. He’d never had to socially interact with anyone besides Alfred, and they didn’t use words. Dick kept giving him pointed looks that Bruce couldn’t decipher.

Finally, Dick huffed and mouthed behind Jason’s back, _“The book.”_

Right. That was a good place to start. “How have you been enjoying Alexandre Dumas’ works?” Bruce asked.

Bruce knew the answer, of course, from watching Jason in the library. Jason had recently left his Jane Austin phase to focus on Dumas. Jason particularly loved _The Three Musketeers_ , but he had read all of Dumas’ works, multiple times, even the ones that Earth scholars had never found.

Jason scuffed his foot on the ground and looked at Bruce with a strange shyness. “I…You know about Alexandre Dumas?”

“I briefly met him once,” Bruce said. Not exactly true, since Bruce didn’t technically meet people. He’d had saved Dumas’s life once, which was close enough.

“Bruce built the library,” Dick chimed in. “He probably knows all about the…” He gestured vaguely. “…book people.”

Jason stared. “You…built the library?”

“The whole manor too!” Dick said.

“Yes,” Bruce said, uncomfortable under the scrutiny. “I needed a place to store the books I found on Earth.”

“So you’ve read Dumas’s stuff?” Jason said, eyes widening even more.

“Some of it,” Bruce said. Dick nodded encouragingly at him, but Bruce was stuck again. He didn’t know how to progress the conversation.

“Jay, you should tell Bruce about that, uh, duke of mountain Christmas,” Dick said.

Jason rolled his eyes. “ _Count_ of _Monte Cristo_.”

“Yeah, that,” Dick said. “Book stuff.” He waved a hand. “ _Talk._ ”

Jason looked as awkward as Bruce felt. Bruce scrambled to think of what to say to shatter the thick silence. “I…haven’t read that one,” Bruce lied. “What’s it about?”

“Well…” Jason bit his lip and glanced between Dick and Bruce nervously. “Um…There’s this sailor, Dantès, and he gets thrown into jail, even though he didn’t do anything wrong. He becomes the Count of Monte Cristo to get his revenge.”

“…How does an imprisoned sailor become a Count?” Bruce asked.

“It’s kinda complicated?” Jason said. “He meets this other prisoner – in the prison – who teaches him stuff like a lot of stuff – and…”

That had apparently been the right question, because Jason began an in-depth plot explanation. At first, Jason would pause, now and then, as if expecting Bruce to cut him off. Bruce would ask another question, and Jason would dive back in.

Dick’s eyes glazed over early on, and he slipped away without Jason even noticing. He gave Bruce a proud thumbs-up before leaving.

“…and Albert challenges the Count to a duel, but his mom, who the Count was supposed to marry, is afraid the Count will kill Albert, and-and-” Jason yawned. “-so she goes to the-” He yawned again, rubbing his eyes.

The forest was growing dark as the sun began to set. Bruce had discreetly let Alfred know that Jason would be late for dinner. Bruce didn’t want to interrupt the boy. It was the most he’d heard Jason talk since arriving at the manor. But now Jason was half-asleep, still talking about the book.

It was rather adorable.

“…and…the Count – he says…” Jason yawned even wider.

“It’s getting late.” Jason deflated at Bruce’s words, so Bruce quickly added, “In the morning, could you finish the story?”

“Yeah! Just wait ‘till…you hear about…about Ferand… Y’know, if I’m not too boring.”

Bruce didn’t think he’d ever find Jason – or any of the children – boring. “Never,” he promised. “Now, you should get to bed.”

“Mmm.” Jason let his head fall back against the tree that he was sitting against. His eyes had drooped shut. “…so far away.”

“Not for me,” Bruce said.

He shifted around Jason. It was easy to step through the shadows and into Jason’s bedroom with Jason in his arms. He gently laid Jason on the bed under the covers and turned on Jason’s nightlight.

Jason blinked up at him. “Cool trick, B,” he said sleepily.

Bruce tenderly brushed hair from Jason’s eyes. “Good night, Jason.”

He moved away to watch from the shadows, but Jason reached out, trying to grasp Bruce’s arm. Bruce was too startled to solidify properly, so Jason’s hand clutched at air. “Wait…Bruce?” Jason said.

“Yes?”

“Thank you…for listening.”

Jason’s smile was content and sleepy, even as his hand dropped, and he fell into a deep sleep. Bruce couldn’t move, enraptured by the radiance from this small child. He stayed by Jason’s side the whole night.

**Author's Note:**

> So I've never read the Count of Monte Cristo, so let me know if I got anything wrong about that book or the author. I did spend a long time on the wikipedia page. Holy cow, though, I had no idea how complicated that story is. So many characters. So much revenge. It's like a soap opera.  
> (Also, Dumas' life - super interesting. Omg. Wikipedia is a blackhole.)
> 
> Btw, Jason is 12-ish, which I think is old enough to be reading books like this??? He's also technically much older, because he's eternally frozen in time. So, that's my excuse if 12 isn't old enough to be reading Dumas' stuff. 
> 
> Please let me know what you think and if there's any plot points/ideas you'd like me to write in this 'verse. I want to introduce Bruce to other kids at some points, and them some other, unplanned fluff stuff. :)
> 
> Say hi to me on [tumblr](https://princessmariana-writes.tumblr.com/)! :D


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